Governor Schwarzenegger Puts 200,000 State Workers On Minimum Wage

image
Published: 03 Jul, 2010
Updated: 21 Nov, 2022
2 min read

Governor Schwarzenegger made national headlines this week after the governor's Department of Personnel Administration issued an order to withhold the pay of state employees up to the legal limit- which is the Federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. Placing 200,000 of California's state employees on minimum wage was the latest move in a long battle over California's budget.

Last month, the Legislature missed its Constitutionally-mandated deadline to pass a budget, with policymakers reeling from the enormous, seemingly impossible task of bridging an approximately $19 billion deficit. Now Schwarzenegger is refusing to spend money that hasn't been appropriated to pay state workers.

But critics see this as more than fiscal austerity because of the exemption the governor's order makes for roughly 37,000 state employees, who will still be receiving their full paychecks, not minimum wage. They all happen to be in the six bargaining units that have agreed to Schwarzenegger's labor deals, including pension and pay concessions, sending a clear message to other unions: agree to the governor's labor concessions, or don't get paid.

Bruce Blanning, executive director of the 11,000-member Professional Engineers in California Government, said that:

     "It appears that the governor has taken a constitutional budget issue and reduced it to a bargaining ploy. He's saying that if you're one of the six groups that have signed a contract, if you've agreed to a contract with him, then you get your salary. If you didn't, he wants you to get minimum wage."

That could be part of why Controller John Chiang, who received Schwarzenegger's letter earlier this week, refused to comply with it unless a court ordered him to, saying that " absent a final court ruling, I will continue to protect the state's finances and pay full wages earned by state employees."

Chiang got that ruling Friday, when the 3rd District Court of Appeals in Sacramento ruled in the governor's favor. But Chiang is digging in, arguing that the state's computerized payroll systems are too complicated to make an immediate change of the kind Schwarzenegger is requiring. The governor's office disagrees, with one spokesman saying "[Chiang] has been in office three-and-a-half years. That is more than enough time for him to have figured out how to do his job."

While the governor's intention of cutting waste from a bloated deficit, and putting pressure on legislators and unions to come to an agreement and finally pass a budget is laudable, there can be no doubt that his method is hurting state workers and families that have come to depend on the state for their paycheck.

IVP Donate

Latest articles

CA capitol building dome with flags.
Why is CA Senator Mike McGuire Trying to Kill the Legal Cannabis Industry?
California’s legal cannabis industry is under mounting pressure, and in early June, state lawmakers and the governor appeared poised to help. A bill to freeze the state’s cannabis excise tax at 15% sailed through the State Assembly with a unanimous 74-0 vote. The governor’s office backed the plan. And legal cannabis businesses, still struggling to compete with unregulated sellers and mounting operating costs, saw a glimmer of hope....
03 Jul, 2025
-
7 min read
I voted buttons
After First RCV Election, Charlottesville Voters Back the Reform: 'They Get It, They Like It, They Want to Do It Again'
A new survey out of Charlottesville, Virginia, shows overwhelming support for ranked choice voting (RCV) following the city’s first use of the system in its June Democratic primary for City Council. Conducted one week after the election, the results found that nearly 90% of respondents support continued use of RCV....
03 Jul, 2025
-
3 min read
Crowd in Time Square.
NYC Exit Survey: 96% of Voters Understood Their Ranked Choice Ballots
An exit poll conducted by SurveyUSA on behalf of the nonprofit better elections group FairVote finds that ranked choice voting (RCV) continues to be supported by a vast majority of voters who find it simple, fair, and easy to use. The findings come in the wake of the city’s third use of RCV in its June 2025 primary elections....
01 Jul, 2025
-
6 min read